# Discussion thread for the "Polls only" thread (Part 2) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 16, 2024, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636 "2024-02-16T02:56:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 385
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2025, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/7682 "2025-07-22T13:37:57Z")
None of those resolution categories apply to me, but if I had to choose one, nicotine is supposed to be one of the most addictive substances & therefore, very hard to quit. I can’t quit what I never started. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2025, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/7683 "2025-07-22T13:48:15Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I quit caffeine every year, for Yom Kippur. And a couple times i stayed off it for months after that. I decided i enjoy my morning hot beverage ritual, and that the health profile of that amount of caffeine is fine, so I’m back on caffeine. But i guess i could do that one. I give up caffeine and alcohol every year for Lent. All in all, I do need to drink less. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2025, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/7684 "2025-07-22T14:22:06Z")
I learned through repeated hard experience that going on weight-loss diets makes me fatter. Not getting on that rollercoaster again. I’d love to get out of debt, but no amount of Resolution is going to make a likely pathway appear, and I’m not going to try robbing a bank. So I suppose I’d have to quit caffeine, which is the only substance I’m addicted to, and which I used to quit occasionally just on general principles so I know I could do it. I just don’ wanna (though I keep the amount well under control.) ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2025, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/7685 "2025-07-22T15:35:02Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > I learned through repeated hard experience that going on weight-loss diets makes me fatter. Not getting on that rollercoaster again. I’m already rather slender. I’ve been logging my food, which is helpful when those potato chips start calling my name (and they do… a lot). I ask myself, “Do I really want to go through the hassle of logging these?” About half the time, the answer is “not really.” ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2025, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/7686 "2025-07-22T16:02:58Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Unless you include “caffeine” in the list of addictive substances, in which case I’m screwed. That’s precisely why I didn’t choose that option; I assumed it included caffeine. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2025, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/7687 "2025-07-22T16:41:45Z")
I dropped caffeine for about three years once, and it was relatively painless. Then my company starting offering free coffee, and for reasons that I’m not sure I can explain, I started taking advantage of it. I will add that while dropping caffeine didn’t seem to affect me much, picking it up again was quite enlivening, at least for a while. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2025, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/7688 "2025-07-22T17:09:07Z")
I quit caffeine for 6 months not that long ago. Then i caught covid, and had a very slow recovery. I just dragged for a couple of weeks. My husband suggested i try caffeine, and that pretty much got me over the “post covid” hump. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2025, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/7689 "2025-07-22T19:35:09Z")
I’ve never had an actual _job_ where I had to punch a mechanical time clock with a paper time card, but in middle school we had a “careers” class. The teacher had a mechanical time clock in her classroom and we had clock in/out at the beginning/end of class. I’m not sure if there was supposed to be any sort of lesson there, or if it was just to make the class feel like we were reporting to a real job. When I worked at a grocery store in college I had to punch a time clock, but that was an electronic one. You just entered your employee ID# and whether you were clocking in or out or going on break, etc. There were no paper time cards. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2025, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/7690 "2025-07-22T19:51:50Z")
I was working for a company that was acquired by another. A mechanical punch clock was installed on the very first day they took over. It might as well have been a sign that says, “You now work for assholes.”. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2025, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/7691 "2025-07-22T19:56:30Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > The easiest resolution for me to achieve would be giving up addictive substances because I don’t smoke at all, don’t use drugs, and am a light drinker. > > Unless you include “caffeine” in the list of addictive substances, in which case I’m screwed. Same here, except that i have massively reduced the amount of caffeine also, just some iced black tea in the morning. I prefer wings, then breasts, then thighs. If the sandwich is even a bit spicy, yes, please pickles. If I get a Tommy’s chili burger, I ask for “no onions, extra pickles” ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2025, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/7692 "2025-07-22T19:56:33Z")
The grocery story I worked for for many years had one. It made a satisfying kerchunk sound, but there were always people hanging around on the hour, either to sneakily round out their time, or because they had been told not to clock in before x o’clock. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2025, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/7693 "2025-07-22T23:18:14Z")
Resolution choice - Weight loss. I’ve actually been working on that for the last 18 months, and I’m down 25lbs, even with the bounces from Thanksgiving/Xmas/New Years eating. So I’d be happy to work on that one, because it wouldn’t require any changes! Punch Card - Yes, but only -once-. Back around 1990 when I was in High School, I had a part time job at a local movie theater. They had a wall in the staff room with a huge paper punch card and cubbies for the staff. Even then it was ancient and pushing obsolete, and yeah, some people fudged it a lot. Everything since was some form of digital clock in or even a biometric one. Roast Chicken - did not vote. But I did vote YES to the second question, where the cooking method makes a difference. My big issue with some roast birds (looking at you honored MiL!) is that they’re mostly too moist (my MiL) or too dry. If it’s too moist, I want breast meat (generally dryer). If it’s too dry, I normally want thigh meat (more moist). On a perfectly cooked bird, I might edge slightly to breast because the crisp skin there is preferable, but really the only cut of chicken I avoid is the drumstick, because often the skin is unpleasantly rubbery, chewy, or tendon-y on many commercial birds, though I’ll still enjoy wings or wing pieces. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2025, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/7694 "2025-07-22T23:26:04Z")
Huh, i have never felt a chicken was too moist. I like moist chicken, and never imagined that anyone else didn’t. My issue with my mother’s roast fowl was that it was grossly overcooked. Dry, mealy, and falling off the bones. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2025, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/7695 "2025-07-22T23:28:52Z")
I worked at the hardware store which was owned by my parents while I was in high school; I punched in and out on a mechanical time clock there, and I can still here the _ka-chunk_ sound in my head. I was paid hourly for my work-study job in college, but using a paper time sheet filled out by hand. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2025, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/7696 "2025-07-22T23:31:24Z")
Yeah, I have no idea what a “too moist” roast chicken would be like. Breast meat is always my last choice, not only because white meat is blander than dark, but also because it is the driest part of the bird. I like wings because of the high skin to meat ratio. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2025, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/7697 "2025-07-23T00:35:57Z")
Sometimes my wife picks up one of those Costco roasted chickens, and I really dislike them…they are (for me) too moist, to the point of sliminess. I know people love the damn things, but…blech. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2025, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/7698 "2025-07-23T03:43:09Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Huh, i have never felt a chicken was too moist. I like moist chicken, and never imagined that anyone else didn’t. Well one, like @Maserschmidt just pointed out, is that _some_ rotisserie chicken, often the first ones in a batch, can be undercooked/too much saline solution, leading to moistness. Second, you could be just be, like my MiL a kind of poor cook - and not use high enough heat or a two-stage cooking technique. Her chicken is always flat out _soggy_, with the skin being rubbery, not crisp, and of course, drastically under-seasoned. My M and FiL don’t use many spices: salt, a bit of pepper, and then use a lot of BBQ or steak sauce on their food. I totally agree that Overcooked chicken is the more common flaw in many/most poultry locations, but overly moist and even undercooked chicken can happen. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2025, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/7699 "2025-07-23T04:12:36Z")
Well, i do like a crispy skin. Soggy or rubbery skin is just sad. But i probably under-season chicken for your tastes. In fact, my absolute favorite seasoning for roast chicken is just a little chicken fat on the skin. I don’t usually salt it after i cook it, either. Chicken naturally tastes salty enough for me. (I like to salt beef and pork, and usually lamb.) I do buy pastured chickens that taste like chicken, though. My husband adds hot sauce, because he has little sense of taste, and that is something he can taste. But i really love the flavor of chicken. I hate when people cover it up with tons of rosemary or whatever. (I do like a nice chicken with ginger and scallion. But not quite as much as fresh roast chicken.) I used to sometimes buy kosher chickens, but they were absurdly oversalted to my taste. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2025, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/7700 "2025-07-23T13:39:34Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > Sometimes my wife picks up one of those Costco roasted chickens, and I really dislike them…they are (for me) too moist, to the point of sliminess. I know people love the damn things, but…blech. I agree. They are quite slimey. I find they are really only good for dismemberment and using the meat for other applications, such as white bean chicken chili. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2025, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/7701 "2025-07-23T14:41:16Z")
Having never picked up a Costco chicken, i can’t comment. The ones at my supermarket are badly overcooked by the time I’m likely to buy one, from having sat under the heat lamp for a few hours. And despite that, usually have a lot of liquid in the bottom of the container. Dunno why. So dry meat and wet skin, the worst of both worlds. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636.md?page=384) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636.md?page=386)